Mar 11, 2013 11:18 AM

For the last few months, on certain days I find numerous small fly-like (?) insects on the inside of the summer house window panes. They seem harmless, but I wonder what they are, and where they could come from. They are only 2-3mm in lenght, and have a distinctly passive (not to say pathetic) outlook to life: they crawl around slowly and don't seem to react much to any form of handling. They look like this:

I'm pretty sure it's an aphid - you can see the cornicles sticking out the back of the abdomen. Narrowing down the ID beyond that is impossible from this photo but if you can get a better one, showing the cornicles clearly, it might be possible to give, or suggest at least, an ID

Good point jaguarondi, I see what you mean; and the 'crawling around' is obviously aphid-like.

However, I thought it looked too waisted for an aphid. And I think one or both of those 'cornicles' are actually the ends of the rear leg(s) on the other side. Also, their occurrence on window panes seemed relatively un-aphidic.

Xiha:

- Any chance of some more photos?, eg. from above.

- Are there plants in the summer house? If so, are the insects on them, too?

- Are there pots just containing soil (or soild and dead plants) in the summer house? If so, are the insects on/in the soil?

There are no plants in the summer house, but I think I just found (and removed) the culprit: a bit of ivy having poked its way under the roof. It was jam-packed with aphids in every state of life and death, surrounded by spiderwebs sticky with fallen honeydew. Quite a sight. Once inside, the less gluey individuals must have been making their way for the brightness of the window panes.